My Mother's Cookbooks

Buckwheat and River Rocks

R.G.O’Donnell’s Store – Carroll’s Crossing, New Brunswick c.1950. (Robert O’Donnell was the youngest brother of Florence O’Donnell Lyons).

My Dad had few memories of his mother and two of them involved food. The first was her sending him to the river to collect river rocks to place in the barrel of buckwheat flour to keep it from spoiling. His second memory was the taste of her Buckwheat cake. I make no claim about the effectiveness of My Grandmother’s method for keeping her flour from spoiling on warm spring days. I suspect my Dad’s memory was missing critical information.

You see my Grandmother’s life was cut short by septicemia and flu. Blood poisoning from a splinter of wood in her finger, from scrubbing wooden floors left her with heart damage. A bout of flu complicated by the heart problems, 3 years later, her life ended. Florence Marjorie O’Donnell was born 13 April 1899 and died just a few months shy of her 36th birthday, when My Dad was just 10 years old. Florence was the forth child born to Alice Ann Lyons and Maurice Medley O’Donnell she lived, married and died all within the tiny central New Brunswick riverside community of Carroll’s Crossing. Florence’s family roots run deep in New Brunswick and like her New England Planter, Loyalist and Irish progenitors before her, she used Buckwheat to feed her growing family of 5 young boys.

Is this Florence Marjorie O’Donnell Lyons? Sadly, we have no known photo of Florence…this is a photo cropped from one containing one of her sons and her husband, Tully.

Buckwheat, a commonly used ‘false grain’ (its seeds can be processed in to flour and Groats), came to the Americas in the 1600’s, possibly earlier. Buckwheat had major benefits to European settlers, it is nutritious, has a short growing season and likes nitrogen poor soil. In the early years of the province it could be said the three staples of the New Brunswick diet were buckwheat, molasses and butter. And that is small wonder, they do taste wonderful together…

Buckwheat was once so widespread that almost every farm in New Brunswick grew a crop of buckwheat. Of course in those areas where the soil was poor and the growing season short it was a logical choice. That areas where wheat, oats, hay also grew well, buckwheat was grown for personal consumption proves role buckwheat played in feeding families. From farmhouse tables to Lumber camps buckwheat was eaten. Interestingly buckwheat was not sold as much as bartered. The market being limited to citizens of towns and lumber camps since most folks with any farming capacity grew their own. In the mid 1800’s New Brunswick farms produced enough buckwheat₁ to provide the equivalent to 250 loaves of bread in pancakes for every man, woman and child in the province. Buckwheat pancakes were eaten several times each week. By the mid 1930’s far fewer were eating buckwheat but in communities where the combination of lumber work, a short growing season and nitrogen poor soil, buckwheat remained staple in many homes including those lining the Miramichi River. It would take until the mid 1950’s for buckwheat to lose its hold on most rural communities.

Southwest Miramichi River, at McNamee, NB c. 1920

When my parents married, my Dad did not have access to his mother’s recipes, he had only memories. My Mum’s family did not have a tradition of buckwheat cake, pancakes yes, but not cake. Over the years My Mother hunted up recipes for and made many versions of buckwheat cake. Of course none of her efforts could quite compare with his young boy memory of his mother and the love she put in to her buckwheat cake.

Buckwheat, like many pseudo grains, when milled results in a heavier and darker flour than wheat flour. Cooks quickly learned that using a mix of buckwheat and wheat flour (when it was available) produced lighter baked products. In short they began stretching the wheat flour (which had to be purchased) with the buckwheat which could be grown or acquired thru barter. I suspect this complicated my Mum’s hunt for a suitable buckwheat cake recipe. My Dad was sure his mother used only buckwheat. I suspect my Grandmother used what she had available to her, which during the 1930’s might have included some wheat flour. Eventually, Mum gave up trying to satisfy an impossible task and decided this recipe was the one she would serve her family, and yes it includes wheat flour.

One final point before we look at the recipe, despite her early death Florence managed to engender a strong love for food in her boys. Three of her sons would go on to careers as cooks.

Buckwheat Cake:

Ingredients:
1 c all purpose flour
1 c Organic buckwheat flour
1/2 c white sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c whole milk
1 egg
3 Tbsp softened butter or margarine
Method:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and grease a 9 ” x 9″ square baking pan.
2) Measure and sift the dry ingredients together into a bowl.
3) Cut in butter/margarine, add milk and egg. mix until incorporated. Do not over beat which will cause the cake to have a tough texture. Bake 30-40 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Serve with butter and Molasses. Enjoy!

T.W. Aceson (1993) “New Brunswick agriculture at the end of the colonial period: A Reassessment” Aadiensis XXII 2, page 11.

Florence’s Personal Profile:

Parents: Maurice Medley O’Donnell and Alice Ann Lyons

The Maurice M. O’Donnell and Alice Ann Lyons O’Donnell family:

Frances Stilman m. Florence Julia Storey
Clara Rebecca died young
Weldon Medley m. Evelyn Storey
Ethel Genevive m. Wilfred Knight
Florence Marjorie m. Hollingworth Tully Lyons
Edgar died young
Keyes Charles Earl m. Hazel Jane Amos
Christine Ann m. Edgar Bell
Robert Gregory m. Margaret Amos
Grace Murial m Harold Ward
Louisa m. Ralph Craig
Lillian Kathleen died at ~20 years

Florence O’Donnell and Hollingworth Tully Lyons family:

Marple Lawrence m. Madeline Rhynard (divorced)
Gerald Hollingworth m. Elizabeth MacDonald
Leonard David m. Lillian Delores Harris
Bernard Wellington m. Mary Priscilla Lyons
Willard Bruce m. Evelyn Margaret Walls
Rex Daniel died in infancy
Clarke died as a teen from polio

When Florence was born her mother Alice Ann was 27 years old and her father Maurice Medley was 32 years old. Florence’s father Maurice O’Donnell was a merchant, running a small community store. A middle child in a large family, Florence was reportedly a happy sweet natured girl with a tiny physical stature, although with a tendency to chubbiness at the time of her marriage.

On 21 March 1917, 18 year old Florence married Hollingworth Tully Lyons, Tully was 29 years old. Tully and Florence appear to have settled on a portion the original land grant of Jeremiah Lyons which Tully had inherited from his Great Uncle William Lyons. Tully and his father David built the house in which Tully and Florence would raise their family, around the time of their marriage. The two generations would live in the one household, by 1921 their family had grown to include Marple and Gerald. Christina Lyons, Tully’s mother died no long after, leaving David to reside with his son and the growing family.

The challenges for Florence and Tully were many, but like most families at the time, challenges were eased by the support of their close knit family and wider community. David was not an easy man, aging and intolerant of the rambunctiousness of young children he did not make life easy for Florence. With Tully away for weeks at a time working in the lumber woods, it fell to Florence’s to manage the house and raise the children which had grown to include Bernard, and Leonard.

In 1924, Tully suffered a broken leg courtesy of a out of control team of horses. In addition to the real risk of infection, resulting in permanent injury or worse, the meager income they had known dried up. We know Florence did work outside of the home, doing housework, and helping to provide for her family.

In the fall of 1925 Florence gave birth to Willard two weeks later, still nursing her son, disaster struck again. Florence woke one morning with extreme abdominal pain and was quickly diagnosed as requiring immediate surgery for appendicitis. How would the baby fare, still dependent on his Mother’s milk? Florence must have been frantic facing the unknown of risky surgery all while fearing for her newborn’s well being. The task of weening the tiny baby fell to Alice, Florence’s Mother. Alice arrived, filled a bottle with cows milk placed a nipple on it and began to pace with the child in her arms. Each time she passed the dining room table she dipped the nipple in to the sugar bowl and then into Willard’s mouth. As she would remind him later, as soon as the sugar was gone his crying would begin again. Finally, after nearly 24 hours of pacing with the fractious child, Alice’s effort paid off, he took the bottle and drifted into an exhausted sleep.

Before long Florence would recover and in 1932 give birth to their youngest son Clark. In 1933 while working at the home of Stanley Lyons scrubbing floors, Florence picked up a splinter of wood in her finger. The small injury became septicemia, attacking her heart and leaving her with permanent heart damage. Three years later a bout of influenza would end Florence’s short life, her boys would loose their dear Mother and the only female presence in the home.

Florence’s ancestors in New Brunswick include Irish immigrants, Pre-loyalists. Anglican missionaries and United Empire Loyalists. Florence’s O’Donnell family arrived from Limerick Ireland sometime prior to 1812 when Patrick O’Donnell’s married Lydia Price, the Granddaughter of Rev Walter Price, a well known Missionary. Florence’s Mother Alice Ann’s family includes descendants of Elizabeth and Jeremiah Lyons, Jeremiah and Huldah Travis, as well as other Loyalist families.

A sad foot note to Florence’s death, Lillian, Florence’s youngest sister died 14 March 1932 at age 19 years, from a Scarlett Fever infection. A mere 19 months after Florence’s death, the family would loose her brother Keyes on 6 Oct 1936, leaving another young grieving family.

Carroll’s Crossing, Northumberland County, New Brunswick, Canada

Myles Lyons wood cutter at Carroll’s Crossing c.1900, Left to Right – Gordon Finnie, Elias Lyons, John Stewart, Willard Wilson, Myles Lyons and Cecil Finnie.

The tiny hamlet of Carroll’s Crossing, nestled on the steep banks of the Southwest Miramichi river, was settled by Europeans beginning prior to the first land grant in1809. The grant under the sponsor Ephraim Betts, includes some 60 parcels of land in the Upper Miramichi valley. The area which became Carroll’s Crossing is comprised of a handful of lots granted to Stephen Sutter, Francis Meuse, James Barcley, Widow Rose Smith, Jeremiah Lyons, William Betts and Azor Betts, lots numbered 58 to 64.

It is not as yet clear the extent to which some of these of Grantees engaged their property. Like many early Land grants, the practice of favouring influential and powerful individuals is demonstrated in the number of lots which were quickly sold, or transferred but not developed by the grantee. A case in point is the sale of lot 61, by Widow Rose Smith to Daniel Lyon, son of Jeremiah Lyons which occurred a mere 3 years after it was granted to her. It is important to remember the primary impetus for settlement of Northumberland county was the timber trade. In the period up to the Great Miramichi fire of 1825, the vast stands of virgin timber represented opportunity.

Carroll’s Crossing, New Brunswick c.1902 showing the home of Hazen Lyons on the right and his blacksmith shop on the left. All of the people in the photo have connections to the Lyons family. The young man on horse back wearing a hat is Hollingworth Tully Lyons, my Grandfather husband of featured woman Florence Marjorie O’Donnel Lyons.

What we can say is that the family of Jeremiah Lyon and later settlers, did remain in the area and were part of its growth into a community which once boasted a school, church and post office as well as stores, sandstone quarry and a blacksmith. Most of the long term residents of Carroll’s Crossing engaged in the timber industry and subsistence farming. The steep side hill land soil is thin, and rocky but many grants had attached islands and river interval lands which although limited use for building structures because of spring flooding, provided rich soil for growing crops and for pasturing animals. Of course the water front lots were also favoured for their river access, for travel and for fishing. In addition to the Atlantic Salmon which was plentiful in the Miramichi River, the river provided other wild foods such as Fiddleheads greens.

The arrival of the railway in 1870’s saw the area gain its name, as the story goes Thomas Carroll who along with his wife Elizabeth McKinnon Carroll settled on the land granted to Francis Meuse, objected strongly to losing his land. Apparently, Mr Carroll was somewhat appeased by the authorities deciding to name the community after him. How exactly Thomas Carroll whose Carroll family had settled down river at Howards, NB, came to choose the area to live is unclear, he did have family connections to the area. Thomas Carroll was Great Grandson of Jeremiah Lyons through his Grandmother Dorothy Elizabeth Lyons Kearney, one of Jeremiah’s daughters. There also appears to be connection to some of the Irish settlers to the area in particular the McNamee family. Regardless, the Carroll family would settle, share their name with the community and grow into the prosperous family, farmers and business owners of today.

Portable saw at work sawing logs c.1930 Upper Miramichi River Valley.

Additional Resources:

Carroll’s Crossing School- https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=14064

Rural Community of the Upper Miramichi – https://uppermiramichi.ca/

Kindness with a side of German Apple Cake…

Most of My Mother’s cookbook recipes are handwritten, a distinct few are typewritten in a cursive font. I have never seen this contributor’s handwriting, the cursive typewritten “Gussie” was her only signature.

Augusta C. Deuchler Mills was a typist. The 1925 census of Staten Island New York reveals Gussie’s career as a typist began early, before 16 years of age. In her late 50’s in 1968, Gussie and her husband Carl were retired residents of Carl’s home community of Advocate Harbour, Nova Scotia.

The first and most significant shift for our family came in 1968 when my Dad entered ministry with the United Church of Canada and we moved to Advocate Harbour. Reputed to have been named by European explorer, John Cabot, Advocate is nestled on the shores of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Minas Basin. Tucked between Cape D’or and the mighty Cape Chignecto. Advocate and surrounding area had been a major shipbuilding center during the age of Wood, Wind and Sail, by 1968 it was reduced to a shadow of it’s former glory.

My parents could not have known how difficult this change would be for our family, Mum in particular, or the extent to which the little woman, with a thick New York accent, would play in helping us settle into a new community and into our new role as the Minister’s family.

Two friends, left Evelyn Lyons and right Gussie Mills enjoying a family BBQ at horseshoe cove, NS c.1971

Gussie’s kindness came in many forms… Her support of our family, particularly my Mother was unfailing and instant. An organizer by nature, she quickly assumed the volunteer position as ‘secretary’ to my father. She nattered at him for his bad handwriting and tut-tut-ed at his atrocious spelling.

But it was her underlying kindness which left the greatest impression. The fine china she gifted knowing the countless large lunches Mum was expected to hostess¹. Or the large pots of fish chowder and plates of German Apple cake awaiting Mum after a busy day being the Minister’s wife².

It was certainly not a given that my parents and the Mills would become friends, as couples or individuals. Nearly 20 years her senior Gussie’s life and up bringing had been vastly different than Mum’s life in rural New Brunswick. Gussie was born and raised in the traditional German enclave in Port Richmond Staten Island, New York. Gussie’s father John immigrated from Hesse Germany to New York in 1894 and later married Louise, Gussie’s Mother. Louise, born in Stapleton Richmond County NY was first generation German American, her parents having arrived in the 1870’s.

German immigration to New York began in earnest in the 1840’s and grew steadily, by the 1860s German immigrants numbered 200,000. The Stapleton community of Staten Island became a center catering to the entertainment of the large German community. Gussie’s Grandparents John and Augusta Feldmeyer spent the early years of their marriage running one of the many Breweries; saloons; beer gardens and theaters which dotted the community.

The New York German immigrant community was close knit, family centered and insular in the period leading to the turn of the 20^th century. By the time of Gussie’s birth, the nature of the community was changing, anti German sentiments fanned by the first world war were forcing the community to identify more as Americans and less as German Americans.

Despite the negative sentiments toward German heritage resulting from the period of the two great wars, Gussie remained justifiably proud of her ancestry, and of her small but close knit family.

Her choice to first share her family’s German Apple cake and then supply the recipe to our family is a great honour. Her cake was always delicious, but when served with a side of kindness it is out of this world, capable of forging friendships and bridging diverse experience.

Gussie’s German Apple Cake:

Ingredients Recommended Ingredients
2 cups corded, peeled and sliced cooking apples McIntosh or Gravenstein
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 egg (room temperature)
3/4 cup milk
Cinnamon
Confectioners sugar

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 1/4 sheet pan.
2. In a mixing bowl cream sugar and shortening, add slightly beaten egg.
3. In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients.
4. Add milk and dry ingredients alternately until incorporated, do not over beat.
5. Spread the batter on prepared pan.
6. Arrange the apple slices on the batter in overlapping rows and dust with Cinnamon.
7. Bake ~ 25 -30 minutes until cake is cooked and lightly browned.
8. Dust with confectioners sugar before serving.

1Rural Churches in the 1960s often were not heated except for Sunday service. Many community churches supplied a fully furnished home for the Minister and his family. It was common practice for those communities to expect to use the manse for meetings, especially in winter.

2 The UCC at this time expected the Minister and his wife to be a ministry team. My Mother was interviewed as well as my Dad before he was accepted into Ministry. When he was called to a new pastoral charge, Mum was interviewed too. As the Minister’s wife Mum was expected to participate in all activities, from church suppers to United Church Women(UCW) meetings, etc. Sadly few recognized the challenges of doing this when the pastoral charge has 7 churches, 7 UCW groups, 7 sets of fund raising, etc. The Minister’s performance was in large part dependent upon his wife’s performance.

Augusta C. Deuchler Mills

Parents: John Deuchler and Louise Feldmeyer Deuchler

Born: 17 May 1909

The family of John Deuchler and Louise Feldmeyer Deuchler:
1. Margaret Deuchler m. Harry Baham
2. Delia Matilhda Deuchler m. William Filmer
3. Augusta D. Deuchler

Married: Carl Morris Mills

Died: 27 May 1994, Florida

When Gussie was born her mother Louise was a 27 years old homemaker, her father John a 37 years old foreman in a soap factory. Born youngest in a family of three girls, after completing grade 8, Gussie followed her older sister Delia into working as a Stenographer in an insurance company beginning about 1923.

The financial and social boom period which followed the first world war was experienced across the western world, but no area was effected more than the City of New York. The largest city in the country, New York had every modern convenience, skyscrapers, public transportation, and people, lots of people, some wealthy, many middle class, and a large group of working poor.

In 1927 Gussie met and married Carl Morris Mills a young man from a small Nova Scotia village. Carl had followed his father and many others from his home town to the United States to find work. By 1930, the young couple are residing in the Bronx, Carl was working as a deck hand on a steamship line, and Gussie a typist.

One can only imagine the effects of the stock market crash on ordinary citizens, watching the tragic desperation in the immediate period following Black Tuesday, must have been horrifying and frightening. The lives of ordinary middle class families like the Deuchler’s/ Mills were forever altered and unrecognizable from the roaring 1920s. Suddenly, the risks were real, bread lines, homelessness and the threat of job loss and further insecurity was ever present. Yet growth in New York City continued as iconic buildings like the Empire State and Chrysler buildings were completed, as the gap between those with plenty and those with nothing, grew.

Despite the challenges during this period Carl would take his bride (and some of her family) to Nova Scotia, introduce her to his large extended family and to the little village which would eventually become her home.

Taken during 1934 visit of Gussie, Carl and her sister Delia to Advocate Harbour with the extended Mills family.

Living in a city with all of the conveniences came with benefits but also risk. During a commute to her job, Gussie was involved in a fatal train crash. Pinned in the wreckage she suffered a back injury which would leave her with limitations for the rest of her life.

Eventually, Gussie and Carl moved to New Jersey and into a suburban lifestyle, like many city residents of their time, home ownership was not a given but manage it they did. When it came time to retire they decided to pull up stakes and moved home to Nova Scotia. When I say they moved home I mean it, they packed up and moved their mobile home from New Jersey to Advocate Harbour, Nova Scotia, a distance of more than 500 miles.

Over the course of the next years Gussie and Carl would split their time between Nova Scotia and Florida. The Deuchler family maintained their close connections, Gussie and Carl would bring Louise Gussie’s mother to live with them in Advocate until her death in 1967. Winters were spent in Florida with Gussie’s sister Delia until Carl’s death in 1978. For a period after Carl’s death Gussie continued to return to Nova Scotia, but eventually she would settle in Florida until her death there in 1994.

Gussie and Carl Mills with their beloved dog Ginger. c.1965

A bit about Advocate Harbour, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia

Situated between Cape D’Or and Cape Chignecto, Advocate Harbour was built upon and still relies heavily on fishery and timber as economic base. In the 1800’s the vast stands of timber which lined the shores of the Bay of Fundy, and an abundance of fish assured the area’s settlement and growth.

Initially, timber was harvested and shipped to England. Soon enterprising timber and land owners realized the real opportunity lay in building and supplying ships. During the period from 1812 to 1900 the collection of coastal communities known as the Parrsboro shore produced 700 wooden sailing ships, the majority from 1860-1890. The communities grew and thrived, large stately homes, roads, shipyards, tramways, stores, lighthouses were all built to support the community and its primary industries.

Local ships captains and crews sailed the worlds oceans, Europe, West Indies, Africa, New Zealand, etc. These men and women created relationships and grew familiar with the exotic locations they visited. The close relationship between the communities of the Parrsboro shore and the New England region of the US grew and deepened. Aspiring young men and women from the region, inspired by the tales of the opportunities and attractions of cities like Boston, and New York, were drawn there, establishing even stronger links between the communities.

By 1900 steam technology had all be ended the need for wooden sailing vessels, despite that it would take until 1927 for the final wooden sailing vessel to be produced in the area. As shipbuilding transitioned from sail to steam, ships carpenters, shipwrights, caulkers, captains and crews were displaced. For a time the greatest export from the area were the ships captains, crews and the building tradesmen who found work on ships, in ports and in the manufacturing plants of New England. The link between the large centers of the Eastern seaboard of the United States and coastal Bay of Fundy communities endured well into the 20^th century.

By 1968, Advocate Harbour was a community in shadow of its previous prosperity. The large stately homes and other buildings from the age of sail were still obvious, but the tram lines, wharves, and lighthouses were either gone or threatened. The population of the community was dwindling and aging, some of those retiring from their jobs in offices and factories of New England and central Canada returned, many did not.

The areas natural resources would serve to carve a path forward, fishing would remain a thriving and profitable industry, timber would continue an important source of income. The features of the natural environment which once drew men and their families to settle this challenging landscape, now draws visitors and tourists. Those drawn to the seascapes, the hiking trails, and museums from larger centers like Boston, New York, and Toronto might be surprised to learn that this small hamlet in Nova Scotia was once well known in the ports and shipping offices of the world. A few of the areas tourists might even have shared ancestry with those who continue to live in its awesome beauty.

Resources and Links:

Wood Wind and Sail links:
https://archives.novascotia.ca/communityalbums/agesail/
https://ageofsailmuseum.ca/?page_id=214

Staten Island history links:
https://www.silive.com/guide/2010/04/history_staten_island.html
https://www.britannica.com/place/Staten-Island

A My Mother’s Cookbooks Holiday Recipe…

One a penny, two a penny, HOT CROSS BUNS

When it came to holidays, My Mum excelled at using food to engender celebration and tradition. At Easter that meant hot cross buns, but only at Easter. At other holidays, there were special foods, lots of holiday Christmas and Thanksgiving foods but hot cross buns were exclusively a Good Friday treat.

There is every chance this is a legacy of the delicious spiced sweet bun’s history. Did you know it was once banned except on Good Friday, Christmas or at burials?

During the reign of Elizabeth I and her successor James IV /I, if you were caught with spiced buns outside of the permitted period you would have to forfeit them to the poor. Our childhood nursery rhyme probably comes from the London street cry “Good Friday comes this month, the old woman runs. With one or two a penny hot cross buns”¹

So, tomorrow being Maundy Thursday, as is tradition, I will be making a batch for Good Friday. I thought others might enjoy My Mother’s Cookbook’s version.

Just a word about icing and glazes… If you prefer you can leave the buns plain, omit the cross, glaze and icing. I recommend the glaze and icing, after all Good Friday comes but once a year! Enjoy!

My Mother’s Cookbooks Hot Cross Buns

Ingredients

21/4 tsp dry active yeast (1 envelop)
1 cup scaled milk cooled to lukewarm
1/2 c sugar (divided)
1/3 cup butter (room temperature)
1 tsp salt
4 cups all purpose flour
2 eggs (room temperature and beaten)
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground clove
1/2 c currents or raisins

Glaze:
2 Tbsp corn syrup
1 Tbsp water

Icing:
1 cup confectioners sugar
3-4 tbsp milk or to make an thin icing

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch x 13 inch dish.
Dissolve yeast in lukewarm milk with 1 tsp of the sugar and let prove for 5 minutes.
In a bowl of a stand mixer equipped with a whisk, add remaining sugar, softened butter, eggs, spices and flour until mixed well, you will need to switch to a dough hook before adding the flour.
Add the yeast mixture to the dough, process until the yeast is well incorporated and the dough comes cleanly away from the sides of the bowl.
Remove the dough from the bowl and knead a few times on a floured surface, being careful to not to add too much flour.
Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled.
Punch the dough down to deflate, cut the dough in to 12 equal pieces and form in to buns and place in prepared pan. Using knife score the buns with slashes to create crosses.
Cover and set aside in a warm place to rise until the buns have doubled.
Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until cooked thru.
Place corn syrup and water in a bowl, microwave 20 seconds to warm.
Brush the buns with warmed glaze while the buns are still warm.
Let cool and pipe crosses over the score lines using the icing.

Credit: 1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poor_Robin

That’s Gaelic not garlic

Of course a few of the recipes in my Mother’s collection are some I supplied her. One of those recipes is for traditional (Cape Breton) Oat Cakes, which comes from my husband Ray’s family.

Although my Mother’s family(Walls line) were Scottish, the Orkney Islands and Inverness shire, my husband’s family (Morrison/McDougall line) are highland Gaels. This distinction is significant. Not only were there regional differences in food, and culture but by the time the families arrived in the colonies, there was also differences in language.

Highland Village Historic site, Iona, Cape Breton: replica of an early Scottish settler home c, 2014

My Mother’s family, who were Presbyterian lowland Scots, had left behind their Gaelic language sometime in the prior 150 years, probably when it was first banned by the English. Ray’s family were Roman Catholic Highland Scots, supportive of the Jacobite revolution and steadfast to their religion and language.

Ray remembers his Granny well, her dedication to her faith, her Oatcakes and the cadence of her speech tinged with her Mother tongue. Ray recalls his father and Grandmother speaking Gaelic. He laughingly describes it today as spoken when they did not want others to know what they were saying or when he misplayed, while partnering his Granny in 45s.

Maigret McDougald (Margaret McDougall) McNeil Morrison grew up in Bhreac Brook, East Bay, Cape Breton. Her McDougall family were Highland Scots, who arrived in North American, to St Jean’s Island (PEI) in 1772 with a group known as the Glenaladale Settlers.

Immigration to the eastern provinces of Canada during the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries was driven by hardship, famine, religious intolerance, war, etc. The Highland clearances drove many Scots to seek, a life, land and opportunity in North America. Although Scottish immigrants helped to settle the entire region a significant majority of Highland and Hebrides Scots either directly or indirectly settled in Nova Scotia, Pictou, Antigonish and Cape Breton counties particularly. This can be seen reflected in the names of communities baring Gaelic and Scottish names in the province, Airsaig, Barra Head, Iona, New Glasgow, Inverness.

Margaret’s family remained true to their faith and language traditions for 5 generations after arriving in North America. First on St Jean’s Island, where they were tenant farmers on land owned by someone else. And in Cape Breton where land grants were possible and where communities of former neighbours and family developed, assuring a new found level of autonomy and opportunity to maintain language and tradition.

Sadly today the Gaelic language in Nova Scotia has known a serious decline despite efforts to sustain it. A few years ago our Grandson Max who was 6, had no idea what the Highland Village Museum interpretative staff meant when she asked him “Do you speak Gaelic?” His response, delivered with wonderful Scottish intonation “No, I don’t care for the garlic” drew laughter twinged with loss. Traditional Gaelic music and food are very much alive in Cape Breton, evidenced by the success world wide of Cape Breton musicians fiddlers, singers, and the hundreds of thousands of Oatcakes which are made and eaten each year.

Oats and Barley are along associated with Scotland and the Scottish diet because they do well in the cool and damp climate. It is unsurprising that Oats and Oatmeal have played a critical role in the diet of the Scottish people including those in Nova Scotia (that’s right there are Nova Scotian Oatcakes too).

Oatcakes have become an iconic food of Cape Breton…and every family with Scottish heritage has their own best recipe. Visit most any Cape Breton Chowder house or restaurant and you are sure to see a version served as a side instead of or with dinner rolls and biscuits.

It not in the least surprising that Cape Breton Oatcakes have endured, they are a delicious, filling and portable. Oatcakes have graced many a miner’s can¹, and helped them through 12 or more hours of hard labour underground. Margaret made many batches of oatcakes and it is likely a good many of them ended up in the lunch cans of her miner husband, and sons.

Here is the Morrison Family Oatcake recipe, enjoy!

Cape Breton Oatcakes

Ingredients: Recommended Ingredients:

1 cup Scottish oatmeal Red Mills Scottish Oatmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 -1/2 c sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 egg
1/4 c soured milk or buttermilk

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Place dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, cut in shortening.
3. In a large measuring cup, combine slightly beaten egg with the milk, add to the dry mix, stir until incorporated but do not over mix.
4. Place the dough on a floured surface and press into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick.
5. Cut in to squares (or score the dough in to squares) place on a cookie sheet and bake 10 – 12 minutes.

Reference:

1. Miners Can – refers to the metal lunch cans miners carried in to the pit containing the food they would eat for their working shift. Lunch cans had to be durable to protect the miner’s food safe from pit rats.